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CBK-Ranil in make-or-break summit talks next week
By Our Political Editor
No ten-day ultimatums, no deadlines, no conditions, and no letters have gone from the Prime Minister to the President, but a summit between the two leaders is scheduled for next Tuesday or Wednesday for make-or-break talks on whether cohabitation government can work, both the President's Office and the Prime Minister's Office confirmed.

At the summit-talks, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to tell President Chandrika Kumaratunga that his coalition United National Front (UNF) government is demanding a constitutional amendment to ensure that the powers of dissolving the UNF-held Parliament is not exclusively in her hands.

The Prime Minister will explain that his eight-month-old coalition has reasonable apprehension that the President will indiscriminately exercise her constitutional discretion after December 5 this year to dissolve Parliament and call for fresh elections.

She is precluded by the constitution from dissolving Parliament before that. In her address to the nation on Friday, President Kumaratunga did not defuse these fears. What she said was ".. I have no intention to dissolve Parliament at this point of time", and re-iterated her position that only she can dissolve Parliament.

The Prime Minister is likely to suggest that a constitutional amendment be introduced to extend the period that bars a President from dissolving Parliament after the last general elections from one year to a possible three or four years unless the ruling party loses its majority in Parliament or the party or coalition with the majority calls upon the President to dissolve Parliament.

At present, PA legal experts, including H. L. de Silva, P.C. have opined that piecemeal constitutional amendments are bad, and this view was reflected in this week's cabinet meeting by President Kumaratunga who suggested the abolition of the entire executive presidential system.

Moves to have President Kumaratunga sign a public statement that she will not dissolve Parliament soon after December 5, this year instead of a constitutional amendment appear to have not comforted UNF coalition partners given the belligerent mood of the President.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has indicated his willingness to go for fresh polls to seek a mandate to show President Kumaratunga for a second time "who is Boss". The remark sent jitters down the country's business community, and several sitting parliamentarians from both sides of the House.

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